According to O&O, the new version of the tried-and-tested software O&O Safe Erase 18 has been optimized under the hood. Really? It takes a sluggish 45 seconds to start on one of our ultra-fast test systems. Otherwise, it takes five to ten seconds.

The interface, with six large tiles, remains exactly the same as its predecessor — where are the changes and innovations?

O&O mentions support for the latest browser versions, but here, too, it disappoints. The current Chrome version is not even recognized by SafeErase 18, while, Firefox is partially recognized but not supported. Opera isn’t recognized or supported either. This leaves the outdated, insecure Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge as the only browsers that delete data well like you’d expect. The browser support is absolutely questionable.

At least the other things work. The annoying drag and drop bug of of SafeErase 17 when deleting files and folders is fixed now. Even in earlier versions of SafeErase, SSDs were given a special place: “SolidErase” works in a resource-saving way because only one write process is carried out on SSDs you’re wiping. If you need more write passes of the SSD for more a much more secure wipe, other deletion methods can also be used.

The secure deletion option available via the right-click context menu of Windows Explorer works without any problems. (Well, apart from the agonizingly slow start on our computer.) Two gigabytes of data with hundreds of files were safely destroyed within two minutes on a current office PC.

Alternative: The English-language freeware Eraser offers configurable secure deletion options and is also available via the Windows Explorer context menu.

Conclusion

O&O Safe Erase works reliably in its core. Why the tool starts so slowly on a fast Windows 11 system with M.2 SSD and 64GB RAM remains a mystery. We’d also like to see more interface improvements and better handling of browser data deletion in the future.

This review was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de.